What money no object rear hub?

got a DT240 here with proper wibbly bearings or freehub that need replacing. to do it myself I'll need a tool and I don't feel confident about doing it either. to talk to the lbs about it, they just talk about the mechanic hating them and it being more expensive than buying a new hub or prefering world war 3. perhaps, if you know of stuff about hubs and have the tools a DT240 is great! and a runner forever? But as a hub fiddling pleb, it's a less hassle to buy a deore hub and replace it than sort the 240. I can't just pop the bearings in and out can I? or can you just "replace" the freehub?

I bought my rear for £240 new on offer about four years ago, from Stiff.

I also got the expensive tool eventually.

When I wanted to bolt my axel up, King did the parts (fun bolts), easy change
When I almost bought a frame that was 142mm x12mm thru axel, King did the parts, ok they were £80 but at least I could have still used my hub! I like the way it can grow with bike design changes, so far anyway.

I've "serviced" it once. It didn't need it, once the inside was open, it was mint, after 3 years and 2 Alp trips.

The engagement is nice and swift, the noise is nice, although louder would be better.

I posted on here that I liked the hub but the RRP (then about £340) it wasn't worth it. I still feel that way. If you find a reduced one, maybe it's worth it.

Surly Singlespeed hubs here. Have been on a few years. Not had to open them up for any reason. Running a White Industries freewheel. I think they weigh more than the rest of the bike though.
I dont believe they fall in to the money no object category though.

I recall listening to the audio call-ins from the Tour Divide this year, & there was one pretty peed off chap who had to drop out of the race due to a King hub failing.

I'd probably spec XTR if money was actually no object, but I've promised myself a wheelset with red hubs next time.

Not quite sure why people are posting all these super bling lightweight hubs like Tune and DT 190 if reliability is the primary requirement. For ultimate longevity with no concern as to cost I would go with Phil Wood. I have some which are heading on for 10 years old and I've not had to touch them once. In that time I've been through countless sets of Hope bearings, a couple of DT freehubs, and a fully exploded Tune freehub (which they replaced no quibbles I have to say). XTR would also be a very good option but I believe they are centrelock only, which would put me off a little, purely for reasons of disc interchangeability with everything else I've got, nothing wrong with centrelock in itself.

Not quite sure why people are posting all these super bling lightweight hubs like Tune and DT 190 if reliability is the primary requirement. For ultimate longevity with no concern as to cost I would go with Phil Wood. I have some which are heading on for 10 years old and I've not had to touch them once. In that time I've been through countless sets of Hope bearings, a couple of DT freehubs, and a fully exploded Tune freehub (which they replaced no quibbles I have to say). XTR would also be a very good option but I believe they are centrelock only, which would put me off a little, purely for reasons of disc interchangeability with everything else I've got, nothing wrong with centrelock in itself.

Mine has a ti freehub being the SS version so no issues there, I also believe they changed the ali freehub on the other Tunehubs to a different design.

You will get stories of failures on all hubs as people are more likely to grip than comment about no issues

got a DT240 here with proper wibbly bearings or freehub that need replacing. to do it myself I'll need a tool and I don't feel confident about doing it either. to talk to the lbs about it, they just talk about the mechanic hating them and it being more expensive than buying a new hub or prefering world war 3. perhaps, if you know of stuff about hubs and have the tools a DT240 is great

Not being funny, but your shop sucks balls.

More helpfully- only the very centre bearing needs a special tool to access, everything else is just standard whack out, whack in including all the freehub bearings- it's a 5 minute job to change those. All standard bearings too.

The one that does need the tool lasts a very long time as it's so well protected, but when it does need done the tool's not all that expensive. (£25 or thereabouts if I remember rightly). But if this is the first time you've done the bearings, then chances are it's fine, they seem to need replaced about 1 time out of 3.

The freehubs are pretty damn expensive mind but then you shouldn't really need to replace one of those.

What I always had trouble with Shimano XT and XTR is the freehub mechanism not working when it was freezing out. No amount of GT85/grease/oil etc seemed to make any difference and although pissing on it works you eventually run out of piss on long rides. I know Hope are not considered bling and have their issues but I find mine reliable and so easy to work on that I'll forgive the few issues I've had.

I consider DT/King a step up from Hope but I will stick with Hope so I can have two hubs/wheels for the price of one... having a spare set of near identical wheel (used on another bike) is a bigger boon than having one pair of ultra bling wheels IMHO.

Really like the 240s as it's such an ingeniously simple design, so I'd just stick with that (or go with the 180 version if I had money to burn)

Not sure what people are talking about with "replacing DT freehub" here....the "freehub" is not part of the hub at all, it's just two opposing discs (about the size of pound coins) that are pushed together with springs. If pressed, I reckon I could replace them both in under a minute with no tools at all.

What I always had trouble with Shimano XT and XTR is the freehub mechanism not working when it was freezing out. No amount of GT85/grease/oil etc seemed to make any difference and although pissing on it works you eventually run out of piss on long rides

The Kings have needed nothing in a combined life of 25 years and almost 20k miles. The DTs have needed 3 sets of bearings between them at a cost of ~ £90 in the past 3 years, The I9s seem to lose spoke tension all the time. The front XTR hub died in a year, despite being serviced at 6 months...pitted cup surface. The WI's are only a year old but the MTB SS wheels are on thir second set of bearings. The Deore front was ruined in 2500 miles. The Alfine 8 is perfect, and the 11s problems are myriad.

I've had a set of Industry 9 hubs that I was less than impressed with. Did a muddy race in Essex when they were brand new and it all but wrecked them. Hope's are good but pretty heavy. Kings are lovely but the noise gets on my nerves after a while.

I like my Tunes (I have the Ti free hub which is much better than the alloy version) and I've never had problems. Although I think I'm the exception as most have..